Corrie almost apologized. Sammy mewled a bit behind her gag, and Corrie wondered if its real purpose was to stifle her pleas for mercy after all. A glance at Sophie and Miko reassured her. Neither seemed to disapprove.
Miko grinned. “Good one!”
“Hold still!” Sophie snarled at Sammy. “You want to spoil her aim?”
Sammy’s attempted apology was garbled by the gag, and became a yelp as Corrie brought the whip whistling in again. She was overacting Corrie decided. The whip hadn’t left any real marks, just a splotch of pink where it landed. Corrie had taken a lot more abuse than that from Baron without suffering any lasting damage. Sammy was just testing Corrie to see if she could be swayed by sympathy.
Corrie wasn’t feeling especially sympathetic. She had been pushed around by Mr. Baron and
